This invention relates generally to the field of recreational equipment, and more particularly to the field of articles useful for conveying cold food and beverage items.
The portable cooler has become a virtual fixture for a variety of activities, including picnics, camping, fishing, or visits to the beach or backyard cookouts. Some of the fun of such activities is tempered, however, by the requirement to carry a loaded cooler long distances. Coolers can hold a goodly volume of ice, food and beverages, and that load can present a serious problem when one is forced to negotiate the long distance between a parking lot and the beach, for example.
While enhanced mobility is needed, however, it should be borne in mind that the cooler must also be convenient to transport, stable when stationary, and easy to carry. Departures from the convenience standards set by existing coolers will not be welcomed by the market.
The prior art has attempted to provide a useful wheeled cooler, but those attempts have yet to win public acceptance. Efforts to date have proven too complicated, too clumsy, or just not workable. For example, the technically interesting device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,677, (Shustack, Jun. 12, 1990), features a tracked device that appears unwieldy and complex. In contrast, the cooler disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,681 (Bartholomew, Feb. 16, 1988), requires that the cooler be oriented in a particular posture for carrying, and the wheel configuration provides little to no ground clearance. The "Portable Cooler" of U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,841 (Bradshaw, Oct. 17, 1989) presents the opposite problem, with large, permanently fixed wheels that impede storage and hand carrying. Similarly, neither the "Beach Hand Cart" of U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,157 (Resnick, Oct. 21, 1986) or the "Mobile Cooler Chest and Cooler Chest Support" of U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,448 (Wickersham, Dec. 11, 1990) is a self-contained unit lending itself to easy storage or hand carrying.
What is required is a mobile cooler that can be carried and stored with the same ease as a conventional cooler, with the ability to convert quickly to a wheelable mode in which a user can easily propel the cooler forward. Such a device is the subject of the present invention.